This invention relates to athletic training machines and, more particularly, to a ball throwing machine.
There have been a number of throwing machines devised. A number of such machines are described in W. C. Hinman U.S. Pat. No. 221,306, issued Nov. 4, 1879; M. Warne U.S. Pat. No. 228,959, issued June 15, 1880; W. Webber U.S. Pat. No. 1,091,992, issued Mar. 31, 1914; A. McMillan U.S. Pat. No. 1,203,027, issued Oct. 31, 1916; H. G. Boardman U.S. Pat. No. 1,204,645, issued Nov. 14, 1916; H. R. Maxcey, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,985, issued Oct. 23, 1956; V. C. Weidmaier et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,776, issued July 17, 1962; O. K. Pankratz U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,878, issued Oct. 11, 1966; W. S. Jurkiewicz Pat. No. 3,399,892, issued Sept. 3, 1968; R. E. Lee U.S. Pat. No. 3,410,258, issued Nov. 12, 1968; H. O. Wegner U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,996, issued Oct. 12, 1971; J. R. Dixon U.S. Pat. No. 3,951, 125, issued Apr. 20, 1976; and B. C. Meyer U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,386, issued Aug. 31, 1976. Such machines are usually used to train athletes in the particulars of a sport such as baseball, tennis, or football. In general, such a machine supplants a human player and throws a ball to a particular position so that the athlete utilizing the machine may receive training in catching, batting, hitting, and the like without the presence of another player. Such machines can also often be used by one or more athletes as training games. However, most such machines are able to vary the throw of the ball only within narrow limits so such a training game quickly becomes boring. Furthermore, no known prior art machine is capable of functioning as a training device for a number of different sports such as basketball and football.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved ball throwing machine.
It is another object of this invention to provide a ball throwing machine which is adjustable from throw to throw for both distance and direction.
It is still another object of this machine to provide an adjustable ball throwing machine capable of functioning for a number of different sports.